Excel Spreadsheet Authors

Gain Productivity with Excel Commands and Take Decisions Faster

Excel Commands are commonly sub-utilized by users. Knowing how to use commands (and mastering some key functions) makes the difference between an Excel Novice and an Excel Veteran.

You will find useful the following approach to learn them all: to look at Commands in relation to the stage of spreadsheet development you are working on. These stages are the following:

• Design Phase
• Build Phase
• Test Phase
• Use Phase

You don’t need to be a financial modeler to advance through these stages. Even if you are building a basic spreadsheet to store contacts info you need to do it all.

It is not done formally of course but it is a natural path to follow.

Whatever your stage, Excel Keyboard and mouse are the essential tools. Read: Excel Keyboard or Mouse?

Let’s start reviewing each phase and the way you interact with tools…

Design Stage – Tools You Can Use

This part of the process is not about Spreadsheet is about concepts, logic and that stuff, so you need diagrams and techniques that help you think and model your ideas.

Tools you can use in this stage are:

1. Bubble Diagrams
2. Mind Mapping software

Build Stage – 6 Excel Commands You Can Use

In this phase, writing formula is the main job.

You use:

1. Excel keyboard shortcuts

Explore Useful Shortcuts, Excel Worksheet Shortcuts

2. Function wizard
3. Formula Bar
4. Formula Autocomplete (Excel 2007)
5. Chart wizard
6. Vba

Test Stage – 5 Excel Commands You Can Use

In this part of your upcoming Spreadsheet, you proof your work against threats, here you use:

1. Excel Data Validation
2. Excel Find and Replace
3. Excel keyboard shortcuts
4. Excel Conditional Formatting
5. Formula Auditing

Usage Stage – 20 Tools You Can Use

This is the most demanding stage for your model; you proof your work under real circumstances and also exploit all the functionality of Excel Tools. They assist you in analysis and management of data: Pivot Tables, Sort, Filter, Macro and more.

The greater the toolkit you know the greater functionality you can add to your analysis and management of data, even your work can be fun.

1. Function wizard
2. Excel Sort

Sorting is a core task in Data Analysis; Excel allows you to Sort Numbers, Sort Dates or Custom Sort.

3. Excel Filter

Now you can Filter by Color, Filter by Font Color.

4. Excel Advanced Filter
5. Excel Data Validation
6. Excel Find and Replace
7. Excel keyboard shortcuts
8. Excel Subtotals
9. Excel Table

Articles: How to Convert a Data Table to a Range, Excel Report – 7 Commands you can Use to Present Data

10. Excel Conditional Formatting

Articles: Excel 2007 Conditional Formatting – 4 Awesome Reasons I Love this Command, Copy Conditional Formatting – 5 Handy Ways to Do It, Excel Conditional Formatting – 5 Killer Reasons to Use It

11. Excel Goal Seek
12. Formula Auditing
13. Excel Custom Lists
14. Excel Shared Workbook
15. Excel Data Entry Forms
16. Pivot Tables
17. Chart wizard
18. Excel names
19. Protect workbook, protect sheets
20. Excel Macro

Articles: Creating a Generic Sorting Macro in Microsoft Excel

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